Hatton set for five more fights

[y2krog2000]

Ricky Hatton will fight another five times over the next two years, his manager and father, Ray, has revealed.

The 29-year-old suffered the first defeat of his career 11 days ago when he was stopped by Floyd Mayweather in their welterweight title bout.

But Ray Hatton confirmed his son will have two fights next year followed by three more fights in 2009.

Ray Hatton ruled out Junior Witter being his son's next opponent but said that fight was likely at "some stage".

"Ricky's only 29 and he could go on until his early 30s, but he doesn't want to fight when he is a shadow of himself," said Ray Hatton. "It goes in cycles with one year having three fights and the next, two, so it will be two next year.

"He would prefer to fight in Manchester, but he has been asked to go to Ireland, where he has a huge fan base.

"It's really too early to say who he'll take on next, but it will be a world-ranked opponent, as Ricky's got to get up for it.

"I can see a Junior Witter fight at some stage, but not right now."

Mancunian Hatton has vowed to carry on fighting despite the defeat to Mayweather in Las Vegas. Witter, who retained his WBC light-welterweight title with victory over Vivian Harris in Doncaster in September, stated last week that he was determined to take on Hatton.

But Hatton's lawyer Gareth Williams has indicated that personal reasons were the biggest problem with regard to a possible showdown.

"Ricky feels Junior has been trying to piggy-back on his success and that he's never given him the respect he deserves," said Williams. "Ricky resents the thought of giving Witter his biggest pay-day.

"Ricky took thousands of fans to see him fight in Las Vegas while Junior Witter had his last fight in front of two men and a dog in a phone box in Doncaster. They're just not in the same league."

As champion, Witter would normally expect the biggest cut but his promoter Mick Hennessy has indicated he would be happy for Hatton to receive the "lion's share".

"It's never been about the money with Junior and we could make this fight in a flash," said Hennessy. "All Junior wants is the opportunity to prove that he is the best light-welterweight in the world.

"If Ricky can continue to bring the same level of profile and support, we won't be greedy and we would be happy for him to take the lion's share of the purse. It would make sense."

BBC SPORT | Boxing | Hatton set for five more fights